


if a rosebud doesn't bloom

by gabesgoldwings



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Character Death, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Pregnancy, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 05:17:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17238107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gabesgoldwings/pseuds/gabesgoldwings
Summary: The Scamanders weren't ready for a baby just yet, but sometimes life throws curveballs your way. Newt and Tina aren't sure at first how a new baby will fit into their hectic lives, but they soon embrace the news with joy. Things take a turn for the worse, however, when Tina refuses to give up her cases as her pregnancy progresses.





	if a rosebud doesn't bloom

**Author's Note:**

  * For [moonstruckfool](https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonstruckfool/gifts).



The news took both Scamanders by surprise. While it had been a topic on their minds, they _certainly_ hadn’t been trying… After two years of marriage and many discussions, Newt and Tina knew they wanted children eventually. Their careers needed to be stable enough, though, to support a child without making backward progress.

Tina didn’t want to quit her job to stay home with the baby, which was the first thing she let her husband know. That worked for him. If not in foreign countries to rescue or return creatures, Newt tended to be at home to care for the ones already in his charge. Adding a child to the mix would hardly impact his career.

But they wanted to wait.

The universe, as it appeared, had other plans. Tina came to Newt with tears in her eyes and a red nose from sniffling after speaking with a healer privately. Whether the tears were from happiness, fear, or worry was beyond her, but that didn’t affect his concern.

Newt immediately shooed Pickett out of his face and gathered her into his arms, pressing his lips to the top of her head. “Tina, darling, what is it? Did something happen at work?”

A sob shook her entire body in his arms and she let herself melt into his touch. It took a few quivering breaths to contain herself enough to speak. “I took the day off today—”

Thoughts of concern and confusion ran through his mind, but he nodded to encourage her on. 

“—to see a healer. My… I’m- Newt, I’m pregnant.” For just a moment, her tear-stained eyes flickered up to look at her unreadable husband.

_Pregnant_. He exhaled through his mouth while counting to six.

“You’re… with a child?”

The tense air of the room collapsed with Tina’s melodic laugh. “That is the implication, Newton,” she breathed out, leaning her head back in order to look at him better. The mussed hair sticking out in several different directions blocked half of his face so she pushed some away from his eyes in order to make eye contact. Her fear dissipated upon seeing his bright eyes.

“We have nine months to prepare, then. We should get to work soon.” A wide smile broke out onto his face and his hands fell to rest on her stomach.

Newt felt his heart flutter at the idea that he was _touching_ where his child rested. Even though he couldn’t feel him or her just yet, just _knowing_ was enough to make tears prickle in the corners of his eyes. Working with creatures, he’d experienced the miracle of life countless times. When his creatures had offspring, he loved and cared for them just as his own. If he loved those infants so much, how deeply would the love for _his_ flesh and blood run? The thought excited him.

For a few moments, Tina stayed silent, watching the different expressions dance across his face. He eventually settled on that familiar, boundlessly joyful expression, and relief flooded over her. “We will need a bassinet… Infant clothing. A room, no doubt, as he or she can’t stay in our room forever.” 

“I think a yellow room would do nicely. Or… perhaps purple. We could have enchanted wallpaper! With nifflers and dragons and bowtruckles wandering around to help entertain the child even when we are busy elsewhere.”

“That sounds lovely, Newt. We’ll have to make a list, then, yes?” Her eyebrows quirked when he didn’t hesitate to summon a quill and piece of parchment. “Well… I suppose now is as good a time as any.” 

—

After the initial shock of the pregnancy, the married couple had a hard time containing their excitement. Every moment they had alone together, the baby filled their discussions. There was so much to figure out, so much to prepare for, and they were over the moon about it. What names would they choose for a son? What would they call a daughter? 

One day while Tina was working, Newt took a trip to Flourish and Blotts to purchase every parenting book on the shelves, along with close to half of the children’s books in stock. Perhaps it was overkill, and maybe the expectant father was getting ahead of himself, but it took everything in him not to purchase every children’s book. If she asked, he exhibited at least a _little_ self-control.

That night, after she arrived home from work and scolded him for spending so much money, he pulled her into bed eagerly with a children’s book on Merlin in one of his hands. Tina fought to keep her giggles suppressed, but when he laid on his stomach with the book turned to the first page, staring up at her with the most innocent of gazes, she let herself go. A fit of laughs took over her entire body, shaking the bed as she threw her head back into the pillows. The mellifluous sound filled the entire room, echoing from wall to wall, causing Newt to cock an eyebrow in confusion. 

“What? Is there something in my hair? On my face?” Newt asked, propping himself up on his elbows.

The laughs didn’t cease even through his befuddlement, and tears quickly began to well in her eyes. One of her hands reached up to wipe the tears away before she tried to breathe and compose herself at least a little. “No. I just… _shit_ , I love you, Newt. So much.” She leaned forward to run her fingers through his hair and her amusement finally settled into a grin. “I don’t know how I got so lucky.”

The corners of his bright eyes crinkled with pure admiration when he stared up at her. Something about this felt so… _intimate_. Most of their walls collapsed long ago, but in this moment, every stronghold guarding even the most private of their feelings fell down and they were bare. They were vulnerable, with Newt laying flat on the bed to face her stomach and Tina combing her fingers through his hair. There was nothing to hide. It was the most beautiful synchronicity to share.

Finally, he found the words to speak rather than merely staring at her in awe. “I think I’m the one who struck gold here, Mrs. Scamander,” he said. A sense of admiration filled his every word, sending a pang of joy through her body.

“I really, _really_ do love you, Mr. Scamander. Now read that cheesy book to our baby before we both fall asleep on you.” Sending a playful wink in his direction, she watched as he positioned himself with one arm holding up his body weight and the other pinching the corner of the book in preparation to thumb through the pages. 

After clearing his throat in a loud and over-the-top manner, Newt turned his gaze to the first page of the small book and began to read.

Tina couldn’t help her wide smile when she felt the reverberations of his voice resonate through her body, and a small part of her suggested he scoot back just a little, but every thought of that flew out the window when he pressed a tender kiss to her belly. She had never met a man so gentle and affectionate. His every word was filled with a love she had never thought possible and, for a moment, she wondered if he would be more maternal than her.

Another time would be better to ponder that thought, she decided when Newt’s warm hand resting on her stomach reminded her of the situation at hand.

The way Newt changed his voice and composure for each character in the small book made Tina laugh underneath her breath, and she leaned down to kiss the top of his head in appreciation. 

Seconds later, a familiar green head adorned with leaves in the position of ears popped out of the breast pocket of Newt’s flannel pajamas. Pickett took a glance around the room to sort out his surroundings, sparing but a moment to jump out of the pocket and warm presence he considered home. The bowtruckle sniffed around briefly before turning his attention to the stomach where Newt’s attention seemed to be focused, shuffling over little by little until he stood on her stomach. With an expectant look on his little face, as if to ask ‘ _why is this spot so special?’,_ Pickett folded his little arms over his body.

Newt stopped reading the book at the sight of his pocket-sized companion, releasing a hearty laugh before outstretching a couple fingers to the creature. “Can I tell him?” He asked when darting his eyes up to his wife, a touching hope and warmth to his voice.

“Will he even understand?” Tina softened her gaze on Pickett, whose small feet tickled her stomach as much as she tried to hide it.

A thoughtful silence took over the room. He knew the bowtruckle understood a lot, but pregnancy _was_ a rather abstract concept… “Suppose there’s only one way to find out,” he decided then smiled at him. Now to phrase it in a way a stick creature might understand. “Pickett? You know how… well, you had a mum and a pa, right? Mummy and daddy bowtruckle.”

Pickett stared blankly at his talking tree. Of course he had a mum and pa, but what could that have to do with this? Slowly unfolding his arms, he inclined his head to encourage him on.

“Humans like me… like Tina… we can also be mums and dads.” Newt glanced up at Tina, who sat with fondness in her expression. “And we are. Going to be parents, I mean. There will be a small human in our care in seven months, and he or she will be our child. But until then, he or she is inside of Tina’s belly.” 

_What?!_ Pickett lept away from his spot on her stomach to one on the bed instead, beady eyes near bulging out of his head. There would be another talking tree, but it was _inside_ of Tina right now? That didn’t make any sense! Without hesitation, he marched up towards her head in order to stare her in the eyes, demanding an explanation as to _why_ she would eat the baby tree.

When Newt and Tina realized what the creature must have been thinking, they both broke out into fits of laughter.  
“No, no, Pickett… That is where the baby grows. It has to grow to a certain size before it will be healthy enough to survive outside of Tina’s tummy,” he explained through short laughs. “I’m reading a story to baby Scamander right now, and you are more than welcome to spend time with us.”

With much hesitation, Pickett turned away from her face to position himself back on the bed beside her belly. One of his hands reached out to graze against her belly, though still suspicious of the situation. It hardly made sense for the baby to be inside her tummy, but if Newt insisted… He would take good care of this tiny tree, he decided at once—because the tree _must_ be tiny to fit inside Tina—and perhaps they would grow fond of each other. 

As two of his long fingers brushed across her stomach, he took two cautious steps closer, peering at his two companions for permission. Newt only nodded. Pickett finally made it close enough to press his head against the place he assumed the baby to be, lifting one of his ears as if to listen. He moved around until happy with the position, sitting on the bed with a soft plop and crossing his legs while laying against the place he heard a faint heartbeat.

Tina exchanged a look with her husband, who grinned at the sight of them then turned his attention back to the book.

The book on Merlin was only a dozen pages long with perhaps as many words on each page, so he finished reading much sooner than she may have hoped. Once he closed the book and set it on the nightstand, she locked her hands with his, pulling him right beside her on the bed. “I think you should make this a habit,” Tina whispered, laying down so her head rested on his chest. Pickett scrambled to find a new place to sit amongst the repositioning before finally settling back down on her belly.

Both of his arms moved to wrap around her small body, hands resting on her stomach, and he hummed out in acknowledgment. “Should I?”

“You certainly bought enough books for it. And, perhaps…” She reached down to fiddle with his fingers. “You could read our child your own book. I think he or she would love that.”

A bright laugh escaped his lips then he fluttered his eyes shut to enjoy the moment. They basked in the comfortable silence, letting their breath and heartbeats fill the gaps in the air. Neither had a need for words. For them, this silence spoke more than any words could. 

—

As the pregnancy moved further along, Newt doted on Tina more and more. He didn’t want her out in the field, but nobody at the Ministry even knew of the pregnancy except Theseus, so they had no reason to remove her from her cases. Their healer advised strongly against working in the field due to the dangers of her position, suggesting some sort of desk work until the baby’s birth. Ultimately, however, it was her choice.

The disagreement between Newt and Tina progressed for several weeks until one argument sent him to sleep on the couch.

“It’s only a few months, Tina!” He tried to reason as he paced the living room back and forth while she sat on the sofa with her hands on the small bump of their child.

“My job is _not_ to sit around and fill out paperwork all day! That’s the end of it.” While she spoke, one of her hands began to rub small circles over the spot where the baby kicked, eyes fond when they looked at the bump but exasperated at her husband.

Newt’s trembling fingers ran through his hair. How could she not see the urgency of taking a break? “What if something happens to the baby? Your line of work is dangerous—”

“So is yours!”

“Tina, _I’m_ not pregnant! If I were carrying our child, I would have Bunty take over entirely for my active work.”

“Well, unlike you, _I don’t have a personal assistant_ . I am the only one with my specific job, and my cases have been assigned to me personally. I _will_ finish them, whether you support me or not,” she snapped without hesitation, sending a sharp look in his direction.

All he could do not to snap back was bite his tongue. He turned to look at the wall blankly in an attempt to calm himself down.

_In for four_. _Hold… Out for four._

Three repetitions of this later, he pulled himself together and faced Tina once again. “Do you remember…” Newt took a seat on the loveseat adjacent to the sofa she sat on. “I’ve had numerous creature pregnancies over the years, and—”

“Are you really going to compare me to your beasts?” She interrupted, voice teetering on ice cold. 

“Just… hear me out, all right? The four niffler babies we had several years ago, the mother overworked herself in the pregnancy. While that looks different for humans than _any_ magical beasts, the mechanics are… they’re relatively similar, Tina. She didn’t survive childbirth, and Papa Niffler had to raise his four babies on his own while mourning their mother. I grieved that loss for months.” Newt wrung his hands together nervously before continuing. “The next pregnancy amongst my creatures was a Leucrotta, and you-you were around for that if I recall. She tried to hunt and run around without bounds during that pregnancy, she would never relax. Refused to take it easy, no matter how much I insisted. I worried about her the entirety of the pregnancy, and… you know how that story ended.” 

The unspoken memory of the unhappy ending hung heavy in the air. _Surely that wouldn’t happen to us?_ Tina thought to herself, fingers dancing protectively over her swollen belly. “I’m not one of your creatures, Newt,” she finally whispered in a broken voice.

A wave of guilt came over him when he realized how upset that made her. “You’re not. But I always worry about you, and now I have to worry about our baby, too. There is nothing I can do except say what I think is best. It’s all up to you. I… I don’t want to lose you or our child because you are buried in work— _dangerous_ work—and refuse to take a break.” 

Tina finally pursed her lips and stood from her position on the couch. “Maybe I wouldn’t feel the need to bury myself in work if _you_ would back off. I am fully capable of caring for myself _and_ my child, despite what you may believe.”

“If _I_ would back off? I’m just trying to take care of my wife and _our_ child! _Ours_ , Tina.”

“You’re not the one carrying an entire other person inside of you! You’re not the one who is sick nearly every morning, who is gaining pound after pound and constantly craving absolutely abhorrent foods. My life is flipping upside down right now, so if I want to keep working my job, then _dammit_ I will. You don’t get to make that choice for me!”

“Do you know how utterly selfish you’re being?!” Newt snapped. He rose from his seat, the abruptness pushing the loveseat back several inches, sending the scraping sound of metal on wood throughout the living room. “You are putting not only your own life at risk here but also our child’s.”

Her teeth grated at his words but she stood her ground. “I have made it through six months of pregnancy without taking orders from you. I think my child and I will be just fine.” 

Newt ran his hands through his hair before resting them at the nape of his neck and exhaling sharply. “I’m not ordering you to do anything. I never have. I am _begging_ you to take a fucking break, Tina! If you would… God, if you would just tell the ministry that you are six months pregnant, the whole situation would resolve itself! They would never allow a pregnant woman to continue the work you are doing, and you know this. That’s why you won’t tell them, isn’t it?”

“They wouldn’t _allow_ me to work! That is precisely the issue, Newt! Why does it have to be their choice? I don’t have control over anything right now, and this-this is all that I have left! If all it takes to maintain control in one goddamned area of my life is a glamouring charm and buttoning my coat, I’ll take it!”

“I don’t think you understand, Tina.” He bit his tongue for only a moment. “This isn’t only about you anymore. This isn’t about what you want to do. You _need_ to take into consideration the entire other life you are harboring and cultivating. You need to stop being so stubborn and selfish. Your days of worrying only for yourself and your career ended when you became pregnant.”

Tina wanted to scream. While frustration built up inside Newt, anger bubbled furiously inside Tina’s chest and the control required not to scream at her husband took all the energy she had. She couldn’t do this anymore.

“I’m going to bed, Newt. You’re welcome to sleep on the couch, in your suitcase, the nursery, or anywhere else you see fit, but not with me.” She retrieved her wand from her boot then waved it to _Accio_ fresh linens and pillows to the living room, letting the pile settle on the couch. Then, she spun around on her heels and marched off to their bedroom without another word. 

—

The fight brewed on for three more weeks. Even after Tina informed the Minister for Magic of her pregnancy and took a paperwork assignment, they slept in separate rooms. Newt tried to resolve their disagreement after she spoke with the Minister, but she held onto significant resentment.

Around 29 weeks into her pregnancy—three weeks after the big fight—Newt finally got around to decorating the baby’s nursery. Though a bassinet already sat beside their bed (Tina’s bed, now) in anticipation for the little one’s arrival, they had agreed to set up a crib in the nursery as well. He spent a couple weeks chopping the wood for the crib and sawing then sanding it before he could finally paint it white.

Once he finished hanging an enchanted mobile with various dancing magical creatures over the crib, he took a look at the room. The yellow walls adorned with beasts in their natural habitats caused a proud smile to twitch onto his face and his chest puffed out in the slightest manner. A small chest of toys sat in one corner of the room, and a knitted blanket from Dumbledore covered the side of the crib. He could only imagine the baby swaddled up tight in the purple blanket, cooing at the flying dragons above his or her head.

A plush bowtruckle found its home inside the crib and upon further inspection, Newt noticed that a curious Pickett had climbed on top of the plushie to examine it.

Perfect. Even if Tina couldn’t find it in herself to forgive her husband just yet, he knew she would love the nursery, which contained everything they spoke of before and more.

The proud, expectant father made his way out of the nursery after one last glance then headed toward the bedroom Tina had temporarily shunned him from. With a stuffed niffler in one hand, he began to open the door with the other, but a familiar voice filling his living room stopped him.

_Minister Fawley?_

Newt froze in his spot as the voice called out his name once more. “Minister Fawley?” He asked with caution pulsing through his voice.

“Yes, Mr. Scamander, we need to speak. Urgently.”

Rushing to the sitting room and stopping in front of the fireplace where Fawley’s head sat, taking in his surroundings, he finally asked, “Is everything all right? Is Tina - oh Merlin’s beard… has something happened?”

“Your wife is currently at St. Mungo’s in the maternity ward. I would suggest paying her a visit before your child arrives.”

Panic flooded over him first, but denial followed within moments. “Before— _what?!_ No, we have two months more. She’s only… 29 or 30 weeks. The baby can’t be coming yet!”

“I’ve only come to share the news, Mr. Scamander. Congratulations, but I must return to my work.” With that, Minister Fawley sighed and disappeared from the fireplace, leaving Newt in a flustered panic.

Everything they discussed about the birth fled his mind in the moment he realized what was happening. He knew enough about gestation periods to know that two months premature was _far_ too early. Already, the familiar sting of tears began to fill his eyes.

But Tina needed him. He could freak out later.

A quick flick of his wand summoned the checklist for the birth into his hands. Her hospital bag. The purple blanket. Newt’s case, sans any dangerous creatures. Two changes of clothes for him. Cloth nappies for the baby. Once he gathered the collection of items, he double and triple checked the list, mumbling panicked whispers under his breath.

After stealing a glance down at Pickett, half-asleep in his pocket, he slipped his coat over his shoulders and shrunk the items for the hospital. With that, he disapparated from the apartment and into St. Mungo’s.

“My wife, Porpentina Scamander, is here. She-she’s seven months pregnant and I-I think she went into labor at work,” he said to a receptionist in one long breath with desperation picking at every word.

The receptionist shuffled through the papers in front of her before instructing him on how to find his wife’s room, which he ran off to in a hurry, breezing past dozens of witches and wizards wandering the sullen halls.

When he finally found the maternity ward and barged into Tina’s room, he nearly sobbed in relief to see she was walking around with something that nearly resembled a smile across her lips. She was okay, it seemed. At least for now. “Tina! Sweetheart, I brought everything on our list, and the stuffed niffler that I may or may not have forgotten to return to the bassinet in my panic.”

Tina managed a pained smile to Newt, gripping her stomach while making her way over to him. “I-I don’t think I’m ready,” she admitted after a moment of silence.

“How far have you made it into labor? Perhaps it can be delayed; surely the healers have suggested that already?”

“They wanted to, but it’s progressing far too quickly. My waters broke at work, which was… I feel bad for the house elves tasked to clean that mess.”

The pair shared a laugh for the first time in nearly a month, and tears welled in Newt’s eyes. Merlin, he missed her.

Shaking the thought from his head, he reached into his pocket to remove the items she requested for the birth, enlarging everything to their normal sizes before setting them beside her hospital bed. “You’ve always been ready to be a mother, Tina. I don’t know anybody who would do a better job.”

A stillness hung in the air while she let the words sink in and, for an instant, he worried that he said the wrong thing. However, the gentle brush of her hand against his reassured his concerns. “Do you really think so? I-I’ve been so scared this whole time, and now I’m petrified because it’s suddenly so _real_.”

Newt flipped his hand over to grab hers and laced their fingers together, nudging his thumb over the back of her hand. “Everything is going to be alright. You’re going to be the best mother the world has ever seen. I know it,” he assured in a whisper, pressing his lips to her knuckles.

Over the course of the next few hours, Tina’s labor progressed steadily and she began to rely heavily on her husband as the contractions grew closer and more painful. Theseus made it to the hospital when his shift ended, six hours after her labor began, though he mostly stayed to calm the nerves of his panicked brother.

After fifteen seemingly-endless hours of labor, it was time to push, and just twenty minutes later, the baby arrived with a cheer and an exclamation from Newt. “It’s a girl! Tina - oh, Tina, we have a daughter!”

A high-pitched shriek from the infant sent waves of relief over everybody in the room, and tears flooded down Tina’s cheeks the instant she snuck a glance at her daughter.

“She must be small enough to fit in my hands,” Newt whispered before a small team of medics rushed the noisy newborn aside to clean and run a full medical evaluation on. “Can we hold her?”

From a nurse across the room came a short sigh of acknowledgment, causing the new parents to furrow their brows and exchange a look. No verbal answer came. The question seemed to be discarded by the presence of a new healer rushing in with a bulky metal contraption, which found its way to Tina’s bedside. Newt dropped his hand down to hold onto one of his wife’s, giving a small squeeze while whispering reassurances under his breath.

Hushed conversation between the nurses and healers filled the air alongside the wails expected from a newborn, and neither Scamander could decipher the topic of said conversation. The baby, of course, but why weren’t they speaking to the parents?

Finally, when the loud cries ceased, one nurse crossed the room with the child swaddled in blankets that doubled—or perhaps tripled—her size. “Not for long. She must be incubated,” she motioned to the behemoth next to the bed, “to preserve her heat. The incubator should help her to breathe, as well, since her lungs didn’t have the time to develop fully.”

Newt took in a sharp breath at the words. _No,_ he told himself, _she’s going to be okay._ _She has to be._

Next thing he knew, their daughter (who weighed no more than three precious pounds) was pressed against her mother’s chest, cuddled tightly into her arms. Positioning himself on the bed right next to Tina, he reached one hand down to nudge her delicate cheek with a knuckle the size of half her face. “Hi, Matya... I’m your daddy, did you know? And this is your mum. You’ve got the best mummy in the world, sweetheart. I know she’ll take good care of you,” Newt whispered, a few tears rolling down his cheeks.

Tina rested her head against his shoulder and positioned Matya so he could help hold her, releasing a breath of a laugh when a familiar green head revealed itself from Newt’s pocket. “Do you want to meet her, Pickett? She’s a bit like your little sister, isn’t she?” She tried to encourage the bowtruckle all the way out of the pocket, which was a difficult task considering all the new people in the room.

After a few moments of coaxing, however, Pickett began to climb down Newt’s arm before stopping at Matya’s feet, unsure of his next move. His side glance at Tina was his shy way of asking for permission to get closer, as if he knew how protective mothers could be of their young, but her gentle smile encouraged him on. One of his legs stepped onto the small person’s foot before he bent down to examine her further.

This little tree didn’t have much hair, and it seemed to have a bit more cushioning than _his_ tree… but she smelled familiar. Fresh, certainly, but also a bit musky like his Newt. With a hint of flowers. Like Tina! 

When he recognized the all-too-familiar scents, Pickett became less unsure of the infant and outstretched a hand to ghost over her cheek. She seemed to coo in response, so he moved closer. Step by step, he made his way across Tina’s arm until he stood next to the head—which smelled the strongest!—and stared at the newest addition to the family.

“Go on, it’s alright,” Newt said in a voice barely above a whisper, and Pickett responded immediately. The bowtruckle bent slightly, nearly folded in half at the torso, and puckered his lips. With a small _smooch_ , he kissed the temple of the content little tree, then looked up at his two owners who seemed to radiate joy.

Only a moment later, Newt returned his fond gaze to Matya. Something was wrong. Her chest stopped moving, and… no. _No_. Her face began to lose its red coloring and before he could call to the nurses, Tina started crying for help.

Four nurses wasted no time to snatch the baby away from the parents in shock and terror. Tina tried to follow them away, tried to get a look at her baby, but a sharp pain shot through her abdomen the instant she attempted to move. Pickett rushed away, shuffling into Newt’s pocket while clinging to him through the fabric.

_“Her lungs are too small,”_ one nurse said.

_“Her heart’s still going,”_ whispered another. 

Silence. The nurses worked quickly with various spells and charms.

Then one whimpered, _“Don’t die on me - please. Bloody hell!”_

Suddenly, every noise in the room ceased. Even the whispers of diagnostic charms and healing spells. Newt and Tina felt their hearts stop.

A shaky breath broke the silence before the first nurse spoke again, voice quivering like an earthquake. “Time of death is 3:37 A.M. on the 29th day of March, in 1934.”

The room collapsed in around the parents. Every muscle in Newt’s body ceased to work in that moment as he fell onto the bed once again. The breath caught in his throat as tears stung his eyes, and a heat filled his tightening chest. His hands reached up to cover his mouth before sobs shook his entire body.

Tina stared blankly ahead, silent tears leaving stains on her reddened cheeks. Her vision blurred and left everything out of focus. It was as if she couldn’t feel a thing anymore. The tears flooding her face came without prompting, and the shaking of her limbs couldn’t be stopped. All she could feel were Newt’s trembling hands clutching her hospital gown and his face burying into her neck.

“I-I’m so… I’m s-s-so so-sorry.” Tina choked on her sobs, dropping down the arms that had just held her newborn daughter, her _first born_ daughter, and she wrapped those empty arms around her husband instead. She knew her arms would never feel the same after holding her daughter, but she never expected the weight of the moment to hang so heavy, to haunt her for what she could only assume would be the rest of her life. Today should have been the happiest day of her life. Now it would go down as the worst.

When a particularly violent sob finished shaking Newt’s body, he fought to breathe. Fought to inhale, fought to exhale. He parted his lips to speak, but only a broken cry fell from his mouth.

Tina felt guilt weigh her down. She barely managed to compose herself enough to speak again. “It-it’s my… N-Newt, it’s _my_ f-fa-fault,” came her harsh cry, combing her quivering fingers through his hair. “I sh-should ha-have listened. You s-sa-said—”

“ _No_ ,” Newt interrupted abruptly, wiping his tears with a calloused thumb as if it would help him compose himself. “D-don’t you bl-blame your-yourse-self, Tina.” He struggled to speak between the hyperventilation that accompanied his weeping, but she knew exactly what he meant. 

In the next moments, a quiet blanketed the room—filled only by the boundless laments of mourning parents—and they found comfort in only one another.

**Author's Note:**

> I have plans for a sequel and a prequel. I can't say when they'll be ready, but you can subscribe to my author page so you'll know when they are here.


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